You really just need to embrace the rage. I keep a small colony of hamsters next to my computer and every time I lose a match to mana screw I throw one against the wall.
Ambush Krotiq makes me laugh so much. I keep rereading the card and it keeps not having Flash. In what sense is this an ambush again? I just have visions of this huge Krotiq poorly concealed in some bushes, feeling slightly sad that his carefully planned ambushes never seem to work.
By the way, shouldn't the previous Duplicate Draft forum be made public?
Also, I don't recommend doing too many tables - 3 tables would be the maximum, I'd think. I did 5, and that was kind of a lot. Would not make that sort of commitment again. Though, of course, you get the most data from as many tables as possible, so there is that. Just don't underestimate the work you have to put in is all I'm saying. If I remember correctly, I made about 2000 posts last year for the Duplicate Draft alone.
Edit: Apparently it is public now. I don't think it was last time I checked. Anyway, here was the previous & first MTGS Duplicate Draft, for anyone interested
Edit2: There is also a chance that I'll get to do another Duplicate Draft during Christmas this year, just like last time. Christmas is a ~2-week holiday in Norway, so I have a lot of free time (and unlike during the summer, it's better to stay indoors...). So if we want another Duplicate Draft after Ulthwithian has finished his, I think we can make that happen.
Sene, do you still have your worksheet you used to handle this?
That I do. I uploaded it to MTGS while I was still an admin, but it disappeared after the client switch, and now I don't have the proper permissions to upload it anymore. PM me your email adress and I'll send it to you.
Here's the spreadsheet that I've been using to organize the currently ongoing Duplicate Draft. It's an essential tool due to the number of pods and seats to manage, and although I'm sure it can be better, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
This spreadsheet can manage six pods. I don't think any more is ever going to be necessary, and six is already pushing it, so that number should be fairly safe.
What to do
Populate the "Pack Master" sheet.
Find real packs somewhere and copy them into the sheet. Modo draft logs, packs from draft videos, packs you've actually cracked yourself in real life, etc. I don't recommend using packs from the Draftcap Discussion subforum, since the exercise is essentially ruined if people can figure out where the packs originate from.
Don't ignore packs you don't like, and don't select which seats the packs should go to. It should be an entirely random exercise, unless you have decided that it should not be random for some reason.
Seat the players.
Once all entrants have signed up, it's time to assign them to the various pods and seats. I suggest using random.org for this. Don't use the signup order to determine seatings, or any other kind of non-random factor - the participants shouldn't know who they're next to!
When you've figured out all the seatings, write their names in the boxes in the "Participants" sheet. Don't worry about unused pods, they can be left empty.
Have all the players post their own thread in the Duplicate Draft subforum.
First off, you need to have an admin unhide the forum for you, and add all the participating players to the "Limited 8-Way Draft - Individual Draft" usergroup. You (the organizer) must be in the "Limited 8-Way Draft - Organizer" usergroup.
All the participants should post their own thread in this forum. Give them a few days' notice to do this. Right before the draft starts, you make the threads for those who haven't posted a thread yet. I recommend making a thread with the participant's name, then copy their post in the signup thread to the thread you just made, then merge their post with your post, selecting them instead of you in the "User Name" box.
Post instructions in the threads, and PM all the participants.
Post to the threads about how you expect them to be able to make roughly 1 pick a day, how you expect them to tell you if they're going to be away for multiple days, and various other instructions.
Have an admin send a Mass PM to all the participants, informing them that we're away, with a link to the Duplicate Draft subforum.
Start the draft.
Copy/paste each player's P1P1s to their threads. User the [CARDS]-tag.
When you have posted a pack to a thread, I recommend typing "Yes" to the 36-row - this allows you to keep track of where to post packs next in the "Main" sheet, in the column called "Waiting" (for you to post a pack to their thread). If the almost invisible "No" turns into a green "Yes", click on the link to their sheet and you'll find a new pack ready to be posted.
When a player responds to your post with their pick, go to the "Main" sheet, click on the link to their sheet (next to their username), and type the pick number (from the D-column) to the 20-row. The pick will appear in the box in the upper right, and if a new pack is available, it'll pop up in the next column.
Miscellaneous
I recommend encouraging each player to post their thoughts between each pack. Like, right before you post the P2P1, you should ask them how they feel about the draft so far, if they think they're in the right colors, etc. It's for the post-draft discussion!
There is a sheet called "Theros". This contains a list of all Theros cards along with their color and rarity. The rarities aren't used at the moment, but the color column is important if you want to be able to see each player's color throughout the draft. If you're using a different set than Theros, I recommend copy/pasting the set checklist from Gatherer, and delete the unnecessary columns. Make sure the card name is in column A and the color(s) is in column B. Optionally, you could delete certain unplayable cards (like Messenger's Speed and such) or strict sideboard cards (Peak Eruption, Demolish, Gainsay...) from the list so that picking those doesn't affect the player's color. If done correctly, you'll see the player's colors displayed in the "Main" sheet, in columns J-N. If there's a white space, the spreadsheet doesn't think the player is in that color. Then the coloring goes from light to dark depending on how heavily the player is in that color.
That's pretty much it for running a Duplicate Forum Draft! Got any questions? Post them here.
If you are not averse to having your results thrown off by someone who hasn't played since Masques Block, I would very much like the opportunity to learn by seeing how my results compare.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
[center]AKA Leon What I'm Currently Playing: Vintage:UW Mentor Legacy:UG Infect Modern:UX MUD Standard: N/A
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The first 8-Way picks have been completed.
More people involved in the 8-Way expressed interest in a Duplicate Draft than doing another 8-Way, so I am creating a Signup thread for that.
Note: If you are currently in the 8-Way, you still must sign up for the Duplicate Draft.
Note: The Duplicate Draft requires slightly more attention than an 8-Way, because you are drafting by yourself.
Duplicate Draft will start once I obtain spreadsheets for monitoring it efficiently and at least 16 people are signed up. (Hoping for 24 or 32.)
Please sticky, mods!
By the way, shouldn't the previous Duplicate Draft forum be made public?
Also, I don't recommend doing too many tables - 3 tables would be the maximum, I'd think. I did 5, and that was kind of a lot. Would not make that sort of commitment again. Though, of course, you get the most data from as many tables as possible, so there is that. Just don't underestimate the work you have to put in is all I'm saying. If I remember correctly, I made about 2000 posts last year for the Duplicate Draft alone.
Edit: Apparently it is public now. I don't think it was last time I checked. Anyway, here was the previous & first MTGS Duplicate Draft, for anyone interested
Edit2: There is also a chance that I'll get to do another Duplicate Draft during Christmas this year, just like last time. Christmas is a ~2-week holiday in Norway, so I have a lot of free time (and unlike during the summer, it's better to stay indoors...). So if we want another Duplicate Draft after Ulthwithian has finished his, I think we can make that happen.
Also, still private to me as well.
2nd place behind Paulo after round 3 of Pro Tour M15
(finished 8-8, but beat Alexander Hayne and Ben Stark)
Guess I was granted permission to see it for some reason. I'll prod folks to make it public.
Edit: Should be fixed now.
Sene, do you still have your worksheet you used to handle this?
That I do. I uploaded it to MTGS while I was still an admin, but it disappeared after the client switch, and now I don't have the proper permissions to upload it anymore. PM me your email adress and I'll send it to you.
This spreadsheet can manage six pods. I don't think any more is ever going to be necessary, and six is already pushing it, so that number should be fairly safe.
What to do
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What I'm Currently Playing:
Vintage:UW Mentor
Legacy:UG Infect
Modern:UX MUD
Standard: N/A